Shelving is used extensively for stocking various items for display at the point of purchase. For example, in grocery stores fixed shelving is used extensively for supporting merchandise for display. In recent years, most stores have fixed shelving arranged in a back-to-back relation with a common rear wall so that the products are displayed towards aisles located on opposite sides of the shelving.
For many grocery products and other related items, the product is dated and usually is removed from the shelf after the expiration date for the particular product. Thus, in restocking of the product, it is necessary to place the fresher stock at the rear of the display so that the older product will be removed first via purchase. This usually involves the removal of the older stock and the replacement of new stock and subsequent replacement of the older stock, which is a time consuming operation. Also, most times in stores, there is no alternate space for storing the removed stock while the new stock is being placed on the shelves. Thus, many times the old stock is placed on the floor while the new stock is being replaced, which can create some health problems and is also an inconvenience to shoppers since the aisles may be cluttered with product.
In order to devise a means for automatically moving the product to the front of the display, it has been proposed to use a gravity-feed type of stock supply in the shelving so that the new product can be inserted behind any existing product on the shelf. An example of such display and delivery stand is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,551. Such a system is acceptable if the product is relatively heavy so that it will automatically move towards the front of the display when an article is removed. However, if the product is light, such as in small snack foods or potato chips, gravity-feed is not very practical.
It has also been proposed to provide a biasing means which will automatically force the packages into an upright position at the front of the rack. For example, in the display of bags of potato chips, U.S. Pat. No. 3,008,583 discloses a device wherein the spring-biased follower automatically moves the stack of bags towards the front of the display. Such an arrangement has drawbacks in that the system requires a hook arrangement adjacent the rear of the display so that the follower can be moved and held to the rear of the display for restocking. However, access to the rear of the rack is seldom available in modern-day displays, particularly in grocery stores or other places. This is particularly true when the product being displayed is rather large, such as potato chip bags, which are stocked on a fixed shelf. Furthermore, potato chips are very fragile and will have a tendency to crumble each time a bag is handled.